| Abstract: | We report simultaneous multicolour observations in 5 bands (UBVRI) of the flickering variability of the cataclysmic variable AE Aqr. Our aim is to estimate the parameters (colours, temperature, size) of the fireballs that produce the optical flares. The observed rise times of the optical flares are in the interval 220‐440 s. We estimate the dereddened colours of the fireballs as (U ‐B)0∼0.8‐1.4, (B ‐V)0∼0.03‐0.24, and (V ‐I)0∼0.26‐0.78. We find for the fireballs temperatures of 10000‐25000 K, masses of (7‐90)x1019 g, and sizes of (3‐7)x109 cm (using a distance of d = 86 pc). These values refer to the peak of the flares observed in the UBVRI bands. The data are available upon request from the authors (© 2012 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) |
